TPK prices IPO at NT$220
TPK Holding Co (宸鴻), a supplier of touch screens for Apple Inc iPads, priced its initial public offering (IPO) at NT$220 per share, at the top of its NT$200 to NT$220 range, Stephffie Hsieh, a spokeswoman for lead manager Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) said by phone yesterday.
Taipei-based TPK raised NT$6.16 billion (US$200 million), from a public offering of 24.8 million new shares, and a further 4.2 million being sold to employees, Yuanta said in a statement yesterday. That makes it Taiwan’s largest IPO this year, according to Bloomberg data.
TPK, founded in 2005, is the biggest supplier of touch-panels for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, according to estimates from SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控). The shares will begin trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday.
Shin Kong downsizes capital
Shin Kong Financial Holding Co’s (新光金控) board yesterday approved a decision to downsize the capital increase for subsidiary Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) after the insurance unit improved its earnings ability last quarter.
Shin Kong Financial previously planned to raise NT$6 billion capital through a private placement to strengthen the insurer’s financial health but decided now to cut the amount to NT$5 billion.
Shin Kong Financial will use the NT$1 billion to increase stake in Materlink Securities House (元富證券) instead, the statement said.
First International partners up
Local telecom operator First International Telecom Corp (大眾電信) yesterday said it was cooperating with China’s biggest telecom company China Mobile (中國移動) to provide roaming voice services at a lower price of NT$1.95 per minute in China.
In addition, First International Telecom planned to launch roaming services soon with Japan’s top telecom firm NTT DoCoMo for local users to access high-speed 3.5G data transmission when traveling in Japan, according to a company statement released yesterday.
HP, IMEC approved for R&D
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday that it had approved applications filed by Hewlett-Packard (HP) and the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC) to set up research and development (R&D) centers in Taiwan.
The establishment of the two R&D centers is under a ministry incentive program to encourage foreign high-tech companies to establish research footholds in the country, the ministry said.
A total of 32 foreign companies, including Microsoft and IBM, have established 46 R&D centers in Taiwan with financial aid from the ministry since 2002.
The ministry said that after the approval, the two R&D centers are expected to start operations in three months.
United Envirotech TDRs spike
The Taiwan depositary receipts (TDR) of United Envirotech Ltd, a water-treatment firm from Singapore, rose sharply higher on the first day of trading on an upbeat mood toward its business in China, dealers said.
United Envirotech closed up 6.71 percent at NT$16.70 with 52,000 shares changing hands.
TAIEX rises third straight day
The TAIEX rose 36.83, or 0.45 percent, to 8,168.06 at the 1:30pm Taipei close yesterday, the third day of gains. The benchmark fell 0.5 percent this week, the second week of declines.
NT dollar drops
The New Taiwan dollar dropped against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.041 to close at NT$30.910.
Turnover totaled US$578 million during the trading session.
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